The Ace Of Hearts

This handsome fellow is Ace, an adorable boxer. Ace belongs to the mother of one of my classmates from high school. Erica commissioned me to draw her mum's dog for Mother's Day. I'm quite pleased with the result. Who can resist those boxer eyes!

Ace's portrait is 8x10" in size and drawn in pastels on smooth, white vellum.

Taking The Leap In The Current Economy

Every once in a while, I'll be in a conversation with someone when the topic of how I took the leap into art will come up. It seems that there are many people out there that feel imprisoned by their 9-5 jobs & fantasize about pursuing art or another passion full time. The current state of the economy also makes this transition even more of a challenge.

I am not an authority on the matter, but can only relay my own personal experience. I would never have been able to take the leap into art full-time without another line of income. I am fortunate that my husband has a steady full-time job and supported me in my decision. It was a tougher leap than I anticipated. Because I was working from a bare-bones budget, I had to really research marketing and promotion to grow my business. There are many helpful books to help you get started. I will write about them in a future post.

Everyone's situation is different. I have found that adding a steady office job to my daily routine has helped me grow my art business substantially in the current economic climate. When I left my previous job, I never really thought about returning to work for a company, but it has been the greatest blessing. Having a steady source of income has helped me buy better materials and afford more promotional events than before.

My operating budget (pre-day job) was on a shoestring. I could afford basic materials, but found that I was having trouble affording adequate promotion and marketing tools. I took advantage of every free and low-cost marketing tool that I could think of, word of mouth being the best tool for reaching custom portrait clients.

With my day job, I can now contribute more to my family income and also afford to take part in more art shows. The more art shows that I have attended, the more local patrons that I have been able to reach and networking connections that I have been able to make. Art shows boost word of mouth advertising exponentially.

To get back to the point of this post... Do not underestimate the value of additional income. I encourage anyone who is interested in pursuing an art career not to wait. Start researching the business of art while working a day job. Build your art portfolio in your free time. Don't wait until the right moments come together to start pursuing your passion. You can take the leap at any time. The choice is not black and white in nature.

Bugsy

This adorable boy is Bugsy, who may be part Maine Coon cat. According to his owner, Jane, Bugsy has a large, very fluffy tail, and tufts of fur on his feet which make them very soft. He's also a love bug. He's got great long whiskers. He is part dog as he likes to fetch things and bring them back so you can throw them again!

Bugsy is drawn in soft pastels on smooth, white vellum. This portrait is 8 x 10" in size.

What's New, Pussycat?

I love the Tom Jones song, "What's New Pussycat?" In fact, I love singing it to my own cat, who cringes when she hears my terrible singing voice. Enough of my babbling about my lack of singing ability. The purpose of this post is about what's new in my studio.

The blog has been stale lately. I apologize for that. I'm in the process of balancing my day job & drawing. It is an interesting challenge. I have been able to complete my custom portrait orders without a problem. I will be posting my latest work soon.

I'm also working on vintage-inspired jewelry, featuring my artwork. This probably sounds confusing, but I actually am making custom cabachons, featuring my drawings and mounting them on brooches and pendants. I found that I love vintage jewelry and would love some pieces that resemble cameos with animal artwork in them.

I've also decided to upgrade my custom magnets. Currently, I slide prints of my artwork into plastic photo-holding magnets that are already assembled. They are cute, but I would like to use better materials. I ordered some glass tiles on etsy.com and magnets. The plan is to glue my prints to the glass tiles & mount rare earth magnets on the back. The result will be a cleaner, upscale look and a better hold on your fridge!

I will also be using the same tiles and process to create keychains featuring my art. All in all, I'm working on expanding my options and ways of creating prints of my work. In doing so, I'm trying to think out of the box a bit, beyond your traditional matted art prints.

I also want to add more designs, because it's always good to freshen things up. I'm ready for some new portraits!

Artisans @ Mt. Monadnock, NH Made Show

Saturday's arts & craft show was a huge success! I met so many wonderful animal lovers and fellow craftspeople! My booth was at the Artisans @ Mt. Monadnock show, which I advertised in my previous post. The show ran from 10 am - 4 pm.

I would like to thank everyone who stopped by my booth! I even saw my high school art teacher, Mrs. Smith. It was nice to show her that I am still drawing and thank her for her guidance in high school.

Also, one of my fellow vendors has posted a link to my site on her blog. Golden Illustrations is featured on ClothPaperStitches blog. Please check out the fabulous work of Missy Blanchard at http://www.ClothPaperStitches.com & http://www.ClothPaperStitches.blogspot.com. It was nice to meet a fellow NH Etsy seller!

Artisans At Mt. Monadnock Show!

I will have a table at the show above with my fine art greeting cards, magnets, nightlights, and prints. This is a fantastic opportunity to support your local artisans and find a unique piece of country craftsmanship. I hope to see you there!

Truffle

The portrait above is a very special drawing. This lovely chocolate lab is Truffle, who belongs to my friends, Mike & Kira. I've known Truffle since she was an adolescent and she quickly became my golden retriever's doggy girlfriend. Sunny and Truffle loved to saunter together on walks. They were gentle friends.

A few months ago, I snapped some reference pictures of Truffle (and Belle, her black lab companion) while I was visiting Mike & Kira. Truffle has this favorite spot on the brown leather recliner. It's just the right spot in the sun & she looks like she is in absolute heaven when she's napping in this natural spotlight. I found my favorite picture and drew the portrait above from the reference photo.

Truffle's portrait is 11 x 14" and drawn in soft pastels on smooth, white vellum paper.